The present invention relates to a downpipe or the like.
Known downpipes commonly used comprise a fully closed pipe, normally of circular cross-section. The known downpipes, however, are encumbered with a number of disadvantages. Because the pipes are fully closed, ice plugs are liable to form therein when the pipes are repeatedly subjected to freezing and thawing weather conditions, resulting finally in fracture. Furthermore, such downpipes are complicated and unwieldy from the aspect of manufacture. All bends and curves in the pipe are produced by cutting the pipe ends obliquely and joining the oblique ends together, meaning in practice that all downpipe sections having pipe bends therein must be produced in the workshop to exact measurements. Correspondingly, when joining together long downpipes, it is necessary to connect the upper downpipe section to a part which tapers conically, which is also best produced in the workshop. The lower section of the downpipe on the other hand can be cut directly to the required length on the working site. This results in waste, however, in the form of residual short pieces of pipe.
The object of the present invention is to provide a downpipe which is not liable to freeze during the winter time, and which can be joined to curved and spliced downpipe sections directly on the working site.
With this object in view a downpipe according to the invention comprises one or more tubular sections each presenting an open longitudinally extending slot.
The presence of a longitudinally extending opening effectively prevents the downpipe from freezing to bursting point, since the downpipe is able to expand freely when freezing and to return to its original form when thawing. If an ice plug should form, thaw water is able to run out through the slot. Moreover is possible to reach such an ice plug through the slot and dislodge and remove the same.
A downpipe according to the invention, and above all a downpipe of non-round section, suitably has an inwardly directed fold located opposite the slot. When joining or bending downpipe sections, the downpipe section located innermost in the joint is further upset slightly in the region of the fold, so as to sharpen the fold and to reduce the dimensions of the downpipe laterally, wherewith it is readily adaptable to the other downpipe section.
When joining downpipe sections longitudinally, it is possible with a number of embodiments of the invention to make the joins so that the slots in the two sections either fall in the extensions of each other or in a position corresponding to said extension. The joint can also be made with the aid of a short connector piece of the same cross-section as the downpipe sections to be joined, the connector piece being rotated through 180.degree. in relation to the long downpipe sections.
The downpipe can be terminated towards the elongated slot with either a straight cut edge, a double-folded edge and above all an inwardly bent edge which prevents water flowing in the downpipe from attempting to escape through the slot.
The presence of the slot in the downpipe presents no disadvantage and creates no problems, since the water normally follows the outer surface of the downpipe adjacent the slot and can be caught again in the next pipe-join or pipe-bend.
Should the amount of water leaving through the slot become unmanageable, a notch or recess can be cut in the pipe from the region of the slot and the pipe plate bent outwardly beneath the recess, so as to re-catch the water. The outwardly bent plate thus functions as a guide tongue which re-catches the water. The outer surface of the downpipe may be provided in the region of the slot or at a given distance therefrom with a coating of water repelling paint or like substance which ensures that any water on the outer surfaces of the downpipe is returned at the next join.